Always at the Ready
by the darkness revealed
Summary: Ianto is always prepared-be it summer, spring, winter or fall. Another of my little oneshots.


Another little oneshot.

I do not own TW, no matter how much i wish i did.

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Always at the Ready by the darkness revealed

WINTER

"G-d!" moaned Gwen, shivering uncontrollably. "Why is it so cold?"

Tosh didn't answer, too busy trying to track the alien and shiver at the same time.

It was the middle of winter, and the Torchwood team was in some random alley, knee deep in snow, trying to track down an alien before someone saw it. Unfortunately, the tracker didn't seem to work in the extreme cold.

Jack was huddled up in his large coat. "I can't feel my fingers!" he gasped.

"Your fault for not bringing gloves," Owen said, wiggling his fingers, safe inside his gloves.

"Yeah, well, you should've brought a hat," Jack shot back. "Your ears are bright red."

"I'm so COOOOLD!" Gwen moaned again. "I can't believe I left my scarf at the Hub!"

Frustrated, Tosh threw the tracker into the snow. "It won't work! Stupid weather."

They all huddled together, trying to get warm.

Then they heard Ianto sigh. "Here," he said. He brought out gloves for Jack, a hat for Owen and a scarf for Gwen. Then out of nowhere, he produced a large thermos and five cups. He poured out steaming hot coffee and handed each of them a cup. The others gratefully accepted them, already starting to warm up.

"Thank you so much!" Gwen gushed.

Jack grinned. "Thank you, Ianto Jones."

Tosh hugged him gratefully, while Owen just grunted.

Ianto smiled, snug in his warm coat, earmuffs, boots and mittens. "What would you do without me?"

SPRING

Jack was in a crisis. They had cornered three aliens in an abandoned shop. Fortunately, the aliens didn't seem so vicious- they were small, fuzzy and looked very similar to hamsters. Unfortunately, they wanted garlic and wouldn't leave without it.

"Why do they want garlic?" Gwen asked, baffled.

"On their planet, garlic is a delicacy," Jack explained. "Unfortunately all their garlic plants were hit with some strange garlic plant disease. So they came to Earth to get some."

"So they won't leave without garlic?" Tosh asked.

"Nope," Jack said. "Ok, people, we need garlic!"

"Where the heck are we supposed to get garlic from?" Owen asked.

Gwen snorted. "A grocery store, duh."

Tosh frowned. "Gwen, it's almost one in the morning. I doubt a grocery store would be open this late."

"But we don't have time to wait till morning!" Jack panicked. "They say that if they don't get some now, then they'll go on a rampage and steal some!"

"We can't let that happen!" Gwen gasped.

"Yes!" Jack cried. "But all the stores are closed!"

Just as they were all about to have breakdowns, they heard a reassuring voice. It was Ianto.

"No need to worry," he said calmly. "I have some garlic on me."

Before their amazed eyes he reached into his pocket and took out a few heads of garlic. He handed them to the little hamsters from space. They burbled happily, gave him something, got into their little flying saucers and flew away.

Jack hugged him. "Thank you, Ianto. You saved the Earth again!"

Gwen gazed at him adoringly. "You are completely amazing and completely surprising! Why did you have garlic in your suit?"

"I was planning on making pasta tonight," Ianto answered. "And the recipe called for garlic. So I bought some this morning. Never got a chance to put it in the fridge though."

"What did they give you?" Tosh asked.

Ianto held out his hand. "A dried pasta shell, apparently."

Jack shook his head. "I still can't believe you had garlic in your suit, right when we needed it!"

Ianto smiled. "You know me, sir. Always prepared for every emergency."

SUMMER

"It's so hot!" Gwen complained.

It was summer, and one of those rare, hot days. But it wasn't simply hot. It was horribly, overwhelmingly, disgustingly HOT. The others were all wearing as little clothes as they could without seeming like they were wearing their underwear. Even Ianto wasn't wearing a suit. Instead he was dressed in shorts, flip-flops and a bright blue T-shirt.

It was so hot that they had abandoned the Hub. You would think that an underground base would be cooler than on the ground but surprisingly it was even hotter down there. It also didn't help that the air-conditioning had stopped working. So the team headed to the pub, trying to cool down. Unfortunately, it was crowded and stifling. They gave up, opting for a bench in the park. Ianto decided to go for a walk, leaving the others to suffer together.

Gwen fanned herself vigorously with her hand. "Ugh! I'm sweating like a pig!"

"It's too bloody hot!" Owen moaned.

Jack ignored them. "Think cold," he muttered. He closed his eyes and imagined himself in a cool, air conditioned, bathroom, soaking in a large tub filled with cold water. There was a big fan next to him, its blades whirring at high speed. But he was lonely in his lovely, cold bathroom. So he imagined Ianto in there with him, also in the bathtub, cuddling up to him. Mmm….he smiled dreamily. Ianto looked so yummy…

His fantasies were interrupted by Gwen's loud voice. "Excuse me, Jack, but why are your eyes closed?"

He opened his eyes, blinking in the sunlight. "I was imagining myself in a cold bath with Ianto."

Owen snorted.

"It's too hot" Tosh said. "If I don't have something cold to drink right now, I will probably faint."

"Uh-oh," Owen said. "We don't have any drinks on us."

That's when Ianto came toward them, carrying ice-cream cones. He handed them out to the grateful team.

"Thanks Ianto," Tosh said, feeling better.

"Cheers, Teaboy," Owen smirked.

"Love," Gwen said, "How did you know vanilla was my favourite flavour?"

Ianto smiled, licking his own chocolate cone. "I know everything, Gwen."

"Ianto," Jack said plaintively. "I dropped my ice-cream. Can we share?"

FALL

Owen grumbled, standing knee deep in leaves. "Stupid leaves," he raged, kicking them in bunches.

"Owen!" Jack called. "Start putting the leaves into bags!"

"No bloody way, Harkness!" Owen snarled. "It's too hard to use our hands!"

The latest alien (a talking tree) had left behind leaves. Leaves were piled everywhere in the Hub- on Gwen's desk, the autopsy bay, almost covering Tosh's computers. Ianto was excavating his precious coffee machine, while Jack shoveled out his office.

"Don't complain!" Jack retorted. "We're all using our hands."

That's when Ianto arrived, bearing rakes. He handed them out. "Back to work!" he called. "And no more excuses about using your hands!"

He winked at Jack. "That's me, always at the ready."

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Like it??? Love it???? Loathe it??? Review and tell me what you thought of my story!!!

I just had this random idea, and i wanted to write something so i wrote this. I actually spent a lot of time on it and i worked very hard. It is also the longest document i've written, which is very pathetic.

I hope you enjoyed it, cuz i enjoyed writing it!


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